


February 19th - Grocery Shopping

by shenala



Series: Steve and Bucky's Season of Love [19]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky and Steve are good uncles, Domestic Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 10:49:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22848913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shenala/pseuds/shenala
Summary: Nudging the teenager out of the way so he could start plating up breakfast, Bucky pointed Peter to sit at the table with Steve, "Farmer's Market. You're good with test tubes but have no idea when an avocado is ripe, I'm gonna fix that before you become any more like Steve."
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Steve and Bucky's Season of Love [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1621978
Comments: 3
Kudos: 65





	February 19th - Grocery Shopping

"Hey guys, why did Mr Stark call my school and say I was sick before sending me here?" Peter called as he walked into the kitchen, having actually let himself in for once. 

Looking up from his newspaper, Steve was the one to answer as Bucky flipped bacon on the stove, "field trip."

"Field trip? To where?" Peter asked as he moved over to stand next to Bucky, reaching out to snag a rasher but quickly withdrew his fingers when Bucky lifted his spatula with a menacing eyebrow raise.

Nudging the teenager out of the way so he could start plating up breakfast, Bucky pointed Peter to sit at the table with Steve, "Farmer's Market. You're good with test tubes but have no idea when an avocado is ripe, I'm gonna fix that before you become any more like Steve."

"Hey" the blonde protested weakly. 

"Shut it Rogers" Bucky placed plates in front of each of them, "and after we're done at the market, we're going to the pet store to pick stuff up for that long-eared nightmare you left here."

"Buck, Honey isn't a nightmare" Steve admonished as Peter spluttered around a mouthful of orange juice.

"One, I refuse to call her Honey, we are not having a bunny called Honey. No. And two, she ate my slippers Steven, that makes her the enemy."

"Do rabbits even eat slippers?" Peter asked, quickly dropping his attention back to his food at Bucky's glare, "nevermind. Farmer's market, then pet store. Sounds great." 

=========================================

"Buenos días chicos" Senora Jimenez called from her stoop as the three of them made their way down the street.

Bucky grinned warmly at their neighbour, bounding over to sweep the older lady up into a tight hug, "It's always a good morning when there are women as beautiful as you Mami." 

"Bucky Barnes, you old flatterer" she laughed as she swatted his arm, reaching out to pull Steve close enough to plant a kiss on his cheek, "you need to keep an eye on that husband of yours Steven."

"I know" Steve nodded gravely, "he's always been a troublemaker."

Senora Jimenez laughed, "Such an honest face, I almost believe you. Now who is this?" she asked, turning her attention to Peter.

"This is our friend's son, Peter" Steve explained, nudging the teenager forward, "Buck's giving him the market education this morning." 

"Ah" Senora Jimenez nodded seriously, "make sure you listen to him then, si? No-one knows the market like Bucky, isn't that right mijo?"

"You know it" Bucky grinned as he ducked in to kiss her cheek in goodbye, "do you need anythin'? More tomatoes?" 

She waved her hands dismissively at them as if shooing them off her steps, "no no, I have plenty, you boys go on, and don't go causing any trouble!"

"As if we would... didn't you hear? I'm Captain America" Steve teased, eyes sparkling with mischief. 

"Ay, you make my heart hurt just looking at you Chiquito.  _ You _ are Steve Rogers, no shield changes that" she scoffed, "now get out of here before the best plums are gone, you know how Bucky gets" she grinned as the man in question smiled sheepishly at the memory, "it was nice meeting you, Peter."

"Bye Mami" Steve and Bucky called as they headed back down the street, Peter at their side. 

=========================================

"Right Pete, let's see what you've got" Bucky stated as he steered them towards one of the fruit & veg stalls, "we need 6 pears."

"Okay," the teenager steeled himself before picking up one of the fruit for a moment, then setting it back down and moving onto another. It took a few tries before he was happy with his pick "how about this one?"

Taking it off him, Bucky gave the pear a light squeeze and nodded, pleased, "now why did you choose this one?"

"Er... because it's not hard but it's not squishy either? So it can ripen at home?"

Bucky grinned at him and ruffled his hair, "Good job, Pete. Now find 5 more." 

After the pears, they moved on to potatoes, and unlike most of the market, this was Steve's area, so it was him that slipped an arm around Peter's shoulder instead of Bucky. "I'm gonna tell you a secret Peter, see Buck, he thinks he knows everythin' about food, but he doesn't pick the best potatoes. I do."

"Only because your ma taught you" Bucky cut in from where he was examining lettuce.

Steve nodded in agreement, "she did, and you were damn grateful for it when all we had to eat was potato soup for two weeks."

"Eurgh, that was awful" Bucky shuddered at the memory.

"Think how bad it woulda been with a dodgy potato" Steve jibed, " now we don't want  _ any  _ squish, potatoes are not pears. They don't ripen, they just go bad. The shape doesn't matter, you're all gonna chop 'em up anyway but you don't want them with dents, right?"

"And if they're sprouting or green that's bad right?" Peter asked.

"Yep. Now, this is the important part" Steve grabbed a potato from the stall and held it up to Peter's nose, "sniff."

"What?" the teenager looked up at him wide-eyed.

Bucky chuckled as he shook his head, "trust me, Pete, it's easier if you go with it and sniff the damn potato."

After he had obediently smelt the tuber, Steve asked, "what did it smell like?"

"Er, kind of like dirt?"

"Exactly. That's all you want to smell. See, it's had most of the soil brushed off? You don't want to smell anythin' else on it. If you do, put it back." Steve tossed the potato to Peter, "now help me pick some more."

After the potatoes, the teaching went back to Bucky, who walked Peter through choosing tomatoes, onions and eggplants before moving them on to the bread stalls where Peter was tasked with choosing a couple of fresh baguettes and some muffins.

"Alright, one last stop" Bucky assured them as he led them through the market stalls. "Cheese."

"Cheese?" Peter asked, eyes wide again, "I don't know anything about cheese!"

Bucky waved away his concerns as he greeted the stall owner warmly, "mornin' Jack."

"G'morning Bucky, Steve. What can I do you for?"

"Need to teach the kid how to pick a good cheese" Bucky explained, jerking a thumb in Peter's direction.

"Alright" Jack nodded, "what kind of cheese are you looking for?" he asked Peter.

"Er..." the teenager looked to Bucky for support, glancing back at the stall when he nodded, "what would be good for grilled cheese?" His eyes went straight back to Bucky after asking, his shoulders relaxing when the older man smiled reassuringly and Steve squeezed his shoulder.

"Well, I see you've got some of Ailbe's bread in your bag" Jack pointed out, "you could layer some Muenster with some Jalapeno Monterey Jack. How's that sound?"

Peter again looked to Bucky for guidance but when he only received a raised eyebrow in return, he knew this was on him, so he swallowed, squared his shoulders and said "sounds great", letting out a deeply relieved breath when the three men all smiled at him. 

"You'll make a chef out of him yet," Jack told Bucky as he wrapped their purchases.

The brunet scoffed, "so long as he's better than Stevie, I'm callin' it a win, Jack." 

=========================================

Bags bulging with produce slung over their shoulders, the trio made their way from the market to the pet store, discussing as they went what exactly a rabbit needed.

Luckily for them, the store was laid out simply and it was easy to find the right section.

Steve flicked through his phone, looking at rabbit owning information, "I think the first thing we need is somewhere for Honey to sleep. She's probably not going to want to be on the bed with the others."

"We're not calling her Honey" Bucky replied, the response nothing more than instinct at this point. 

"What about this one?" Peter asked, pointing out a rabbit house, that looked, well it looked like a house. Complete with pretend shutters on the mesh windows. 

"S'cute, I like it" Bucky nodded decisively, lifting the box into the cart.

"Right, now we need some bedding to put in it" Steve instructed, bending to look at the options, "how about this shredded paper? The cats won't mind that."

From bedding they moved onto food, grabbing three different options at Bucky's insistence, "even a rabbit should be able to choose what they eat."

Peter added in a food bowl and water bottle, while Steve appeared to throw almost every toy option available into the cart, only putting a ball with a bell in it back when Bucky refused to buy it on the grounds of "if Buffy finds that, she'll keep us up all night."

Steve and Peter were looking through the treats when a gasp came from further down the aisle, followed by "Steve! Steve, come here!" as Bucky waved at them frantically.

"What's up Buck?" the blonde asked as they walked over.

"Look" Bucky shook something green and fluorescent in his face, "it's a harness. For a rabbit. We can  _ walk _ the rabbit, Steve!"

Steve took a moment to squeeze the bridge of his nose and send a silent prayer for an ounce of his mother's patience, "Buck, there's no way Honey can keep up with Jussie..."

"So?" Bucky cut him off, "I'll carry her the rest of the way. Think how happy she'll be hopping alongside! Oh, look there's a pink one."

=========================================

As they stepped out of the store laden down with bags, the box holding the rabbit house safely in Steve's arms, Bucky looked over their purchases with a thoughtful twist to his lips, "do you think we forgot anything?"

"Buck" Steve's voice was strained even though his face was hidden by the box, "we got everything. We bought all the food we needed from the market, we taught Pete everythin' we know, and we pretty much cleared the shelves of all things rabbit related. I wanna go home" his voice definitely dipped into a whine at the end no matter how much he'd deny it if pressed.

"Alright, alright, let's go home. Then Peter can wow us with his grilled cheese skills" Bucky gave in, winking at the teenager.

"You know, I think skills might be overselling it..." Peter replied tentatively as the older men chuckled warmly.

**Author's Note:**

> shenala.tumblr.com


End file.
